March 19, 2023: State Approved

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The swimming season came to an end on Sunday in Indiana at Day 2 of the State Tournament. My son participated in 5 total events, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. It was a great experience.

I received the heat sheets ahead of time, and quickly realized that there was a very slim chance that my son would win any of the events he would be swimming in. For most of them, he was in the first out of two heats, which means he was the “slower” group, although not sure how slow he would be if I tried to race him in the pool… haha. I noticed that this pool would have 10 lanes, just like the Olympics; all the other meets we’ve been to have had 6 lanes. We talked through this a bit before the meet itself, making sure he understood what was going on. Pulling up to the High School on Saturday afternoon, it felt like we were entering the big time.

It WAS the “big time”… the first time for all of us at a State Swimming Tournament. My son’s first event was the 50M breaststroke. He beat his time by almost a full second, which was one of the goals we discussed leading into the meet; one box checked. He ended up finishing 13th overall. His second was the freestyle; this one didn’t go as well. He wasn’t happy with his turn, which contributed to a slower freestyle time for him. Still, he ended up finishing 19th overall. The 200M medley relay was the last event on Saturday; I was glad the day ended with a high note. His team finished 5th overall, which meant they made the podium, which was for the top 10 finishers in each event. He also got a really sweet medal; he was extremely excited… so were we. Day 1 down.

He was pumped for the 2nd day of state as we made the trek back to Indiana. Not sure why the Illinois state tourney is held in Indiana, but whatever… His first event would be almost an hour after the start of the session with the 50M butterfly; he was not happy with his performance in that one either. He figured that his follow through wasn’t where it needed to be, which was good.. that he knew I mean, because I had no clue; ask me about basketball and baseball, and yeah, I’ll tell you. Can’t really provide a whole lot of technical advice in the pool. He finished 15th overall. The last event of the 2 days was another relay, this time the 200M freestyle relay; again the day would end on a good note. His team would finish 5th overall again, which meant another podium appearance, and another medal. He was hyped up.

Yeah, it was a really cool weekend. To finish in the top 20 in the state in 3 different events, and top 5 in both relays, was like the cherry on top of a great year. He kicked butt this year. We would have been happy wherever he finished in state, although not sure he would have been. All the kids that swam during this two day annual event should be super proud of themselves; I know we’re super proud of my son. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; watching him do his thing out there, whether it be on the basketball court, the baseball field, or in this case, the pool… it doesn’t get much better than that. Participating and doing well in the state tournament… yeah, it’s all good. Congrats boy!!!

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